Tunnel or conduit lining



Jan. 6, 1931.. J. F. OROURKE 1,783,248

TUNNEL 0R GONDUIT LINING Filed 001;. 16 1929 INVENTOR F O Rourke.

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ATTORNEY Patented Jen. 6,1931" Joann, snowman NEW YBK,.1\T.Y.V

"rennet onconnnrr LINING Application filed omberie, 1929; Serial No. 400,108.

'This invention-relates to building block constructionsand more particularly refers to improvements inmethods or and means for laying building-blocks in position preparatory to grouting operations. j

My invention is more especially intended for use in the building oftunnels, conduits and other arched constructions Where concrete or similar blocks are used; but it may a also be employed to advantage in the building ofvvalls, pie'rs,'columns or other constructions Where building units are. to be properly spaced from one another and Where interstices between adjoining "unitshave to be grouted With mortar or other suitable material. Ina patent entitled Means for grouting masonry, Serial No.'-1,4E87,35 l,' issuedto' ni'e March 18, 1924-, lha'vedescribed a system of construction in which the building blocks or units employed arespaced from'one another so as to provide clearance through which the grout, may flow. In said patent I also have described blocks havingpassa'ges opening at one end into the exposedsurface of the construction and at the other end into a space between adjoining blocks, the inlet end. of toa'fi'ord a 1 such passages being threadedso as simpleineans for the attachment to the block of a pipe or'hose of'a grout gun ormachine. In the type ofconstructions to Which this invention refers, the groutclearancesform' a network comprising intercoinmunicating horizontal and vertical tracts; for a thorough and etficlent grouting'it 1s'thererorenecesg sary' that: these clearances beat 'allttmies maintained free of obstructions, the nature flow of gronttherebetween,

' 40 lnjcertain types'of{constructions accuracyin thespacing of adjoining blocks is a[ matter of great importance;-this-is particu-- larly true in connection with tunnels,con-

dnitsand other arched constructions Where ,46. a number of segmental blocks are employed to exactly complete a rlng or arch of a prede terinined angular eXtentJ V In the lining oftunnelsand like constructions t is customary to use segmental blocks '50 having an even Width forming rings laid in the construction itself. Y

of which' might prevent the uninterrupted 1 succession along the tunnel, the blocks composing each ring beingin staggered relation to those composing the adjoining rings. The rings are preferably made interlocking With one another and to this end, the blocks are provided at one side With recesses and at the other side With corresponding projections, the projections on one set of blocks being adapted to project Within and interlock with the recesses of the blocks of an adjoining set. v The height of the projections is somewhat in excess of the depth of the recesses so that a clearance is left between the adj oiningsur: races. Without disturbing the continuity of As stated, the ends alsoof circnmferem.

tially adjoining blocks must bespaced for grouting purposes; therefore, suitable 31163313 in orderto keep their ends at the proper distanee should notintertere to noticeable.

degree with the free flew of the grout through the varionsiinterstices. r r In anotherpatent entitled Tunnel or 0011-.

- dnit lining, Serialllo. 1,04 3,348, issued to me "November 5, 1912, I have mentioned the possibility of using Wedges adapted to be driven 1nto the spaceslbetween the ad acent ends of.

"the blocks or sections of ring, whereby said blocks or sections are firmly held in their proper relative positioi 5 after anydesired number of ther'rn'gs have been set, the Wedges ter'stice's have been filled or said Wedges maybe left in position if desired.

In the same patent, I have also illustrated! the possibility of providing the ends ofthe blocks With grooves Within Whichseparati-ng keys may be inserted maintaining-adjoinmay be removed either before or after the ining blocks at the proper distance from-one another. I have found however, that spacing means the types advocated in the said aole amount of labor, owing to the fact-thatclaimed in the appended claims.

porting device to which particularly refers;

patent are apt in practice to seriouslyinter j of grout along the long fero with the flow tudinal oints, and to prevent-the grout 1'10111 reaching all the open spaces between the blocks as well as the open ends of the clean ance spaces at the rear.

Their use also involves a not inconsiden r the wedges or tongues must be forced into position after the blocks are laid. This labor can be considerably reduced by using'ineans adapted to be quickly laid by hand before each block is ilaced in position without the use of any tools.

The primaryob ect of the'present inven-V tion is to provide a novel and improved method of spacing and supporting building blocks whereby the proper dista -cetherebe tween may be provided for before each block is laid and can be maintained without interfering 'with the flow of grout across and beyond said spacing means.

Another object is to provide a separating and supporting device of a novel and 'improved design adapted to effectually resist the pressure normally imposed upon struce turesof the character mentioned andadapted at the proper distance from one another without material 1y interfering with the-flow of grout there' to'inaintain' adjoining blocks between, said device being adapted to be placed in position by hand before each block is laid. a r

A further object is to provide a spacing and supporting device of a relatively simpleand inexpensive character adapted to be laid by hand over'the end surface of a block before an adjoining blockis placedinpo'sition.

A still further object is to' provide in a spacing and sup sorting device of the character specified a'nc oring means preventing the v san'ie from sliding along inclined suri'ace's said means acting to retain the device in the position in which it has been set.

Y Other objects andadvantages of the pres ent invention will more iully appear as the description proceeds and will be set fortli'aiid An embodiment of my invention is trated in the accompanying drawings,f.;in which: r

' Fig. 1 is a face view of a portion of a tunnel lining or arch comprising moulded blocks having adjoining ends and sides spaced n accordance ith my invention;

Fi 2 is a fra mentar view'in ners-Jective a a J i l of the preferred type of separating and supiny invention more Fig. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal seco tion'on an enlarged scalethrough the ends of lining. and the "surrounding 1 ground.

illus two adjoining blocks of the same ring, across line 3-3 of Fig 1;

r Fig. 4 is a transversal section of the tunnel lin ng through line 4 4 of Fig. 3;

r Fig. 0 is a fragmentary longitudinal section of the tunnel lining illustrating the network of intercoininunicating. longitudinal and transversal interstices between adjoining blocks and ring receiving the projections of the blocks CORIJOSlIlg an adjacent ring. lhe projec tions are hi her than they do th of the recesses so that when anumber: or rings are laid,

clearancespaces 18 w llbe left between the sides of ad 0111111 111198 forinin interstices.

, b ca 3 7 3:3

adapted to receive grout surrounding the projections. Such an arrangementof blocks similar to those described in my twopre- .vious patents above referred to.

- Each block is provided with a gravel'pa's- 14L- ext'ending from the nner'to the outer face of the block, the inlet. of said passage being threaded o engage the threads of a steel nipple. attached to. a gravel shooting "hose, when a gravel packing 15 is formed by impact between theouter surface of the tunnel Each 'lJ'lOClZJS furthermore provided with a grout passage 16,0pei1ing through the inner face of tl e bloclratlTand leading to one of the sides at 18 for the exit of groutinto the clearance spacesse'parating ad oining rings.

Whichcan be used to engage similar threads in a'steel nipple attached toagrout hose 19.

A. stated in the premises, the blocks om posing each ringmust also be spaced between "their endsto provide altrans'versal clearance space 20 connectingthe clearance space '13 between adjoining ringsand forming therewith anetwork of passages extending around each individual block. 1' Accordingvto niy present invention aft'er'eachblock is laid, a

spacingand supporting device of: asuitable designis placed near each s1 de thereof on top J ofthe exposed end of the-bloclgand the next block in the ring is then laid in position with fits end i'estingagainst said spacing'and sup}- po-rting devices. 7

These devices are preferably of a light and IDGXPGHSHG construction and are adapted to The inletlT isprovided with a-sci'ew'thread be easily and quicklylaidinposition by hand,

and their structure is "such that adjoiningend ofa freshly laid block with their corru- 9 gular section.

blocks will be spaced with the greatest accucorrugated plates laid on top of the exposed gations extending in a direction parallel to the clearance tracts 20, that is, at right angle to the plane of lateral clearance spaces 13; the total height of'the corrugations corresponding to the thickness of the clearance space to be provided. Such a type of device have been set and when the jointsbetween the blocks havebeen pointed, caulked or other is shown at 21 in Fig. 6 and can be made out of'corrugated sheets of the proper gauge and height.

In practice'however, I prefer to use separating and supporting devices of the type shown at '22 in Fig. 2,.consisting of metallic strips alternately ofiset'at oneside and then at the other to form depressions 23, 24, having asubstantially trapezoidal or rectan- The sides 25, 26of said depressions are at right angle or slightly inclined to their bottom parts 27and therefore are well adapted to stand crushing stresses without undergoing any deformation. The total height of a strip thus formed, corresponds of course to the spacing distance to be provided for between the ends of adjoining blocks, and such a distance will be permanently maintained by the strips which will 1 I the grout will be forced under pressure he made of metal of sufliciently heavy gauge.

By using cold rolled steel, strips of comparatively light gauge can be used, so that the sides and the bottoms of the depressions do not materially obstruct the flow ofgrout across the spaces occupied by the strips. The manner of using these separatingand supporting plates is illustrated in Fig. 5 where 28, 29 designate two plates laid upon the exposed end surface 30 of block 10. It will be observed that preferably ;-two plates are".

used for each block, said plates being preferably laid in a front to rear direction, one in proximity of and parallel to each side ofthe block; so that their corrugations'are directed at right angle to clearance spaces 13. V v

' The location of the plates is also shown in Figs. 1, 3, 4, where plate29 is shown laid on top of block 10', the bottom endof block 10 resting upon said plate. In order to facili-' tate the placing of 'theplates and'to retain them in the position in which they have been. set, l prefer to bend one of the ends of the plates to form a downwardly directed lip 31' adapted to engage one of the edges :of the block so as to prevent the platefrom slipping down the During the building of a ring, the exposed end surfaces of the blocks composing the lower half ofthe ring areinclined outwardly, and therefore the lips will engage the inner ed e of the blocks as'shown at 31' in. Fig. 1.

O nthe other hand, the exposed end surouter edge inclined endsurface" thereof.

- faces, of the blocks composing the upperhalf of the ring will be inclined inwardly and therefore the lip will be caused to engage the of the'blo'cl; as shown at 31 in Fig.1.

Inf building walls, piers,= and other constructions where theblocks are placed horizontally one ontop ofthe other, the separating and supporting plates can, of-course,.be

made without a retaining lip, as will be un-t rder'stoochthere being no tendency on the part of the plates to-slide dow'nan inclined surface. After any desired number of the blocks wise closed by means of mortar or other suitable material as shown at 32, the grout pipe or hose may be. connectedto theinlet 17 of a passage 16 of any'such blocks to enable the grout to be forced into the clearance spaces";

13 and the'intercommunicating clearance spaces 20 by flowing through the material of the block from inlet 17 throughoutlet 18, until-the space between the blocks is completely filled with the grout. The grout will be free to flow all around because of the-passages provided by depressions 28, 24 in the separating and supporting plates. l/Vhen the grout pipe or hose is removed from the inlet 17' thelattermay be closed by a suitable plug 1 or screwed or 'fo'rcedtherein. r

A great advantage of my inventlon isthat throughout and beyond allthe clearance spaces 13,20. issuing through the outer edges thereof, and fornnng-lumps about StlClOLltGl edges which compress the surrounding ment of the structure until such time when grouting operations arecompleted and the grout has become hard.

. Other advantages have already been point-- ed out in the course of this specification. Al-

though Figs. land 5 illustrate a portion of a horizontally ext-ending tunnel lining, it is obvious that the device forming the subject of this invention can also be used in constructions such as towers or chimneys where the rings are in vertical alignment with one another and in such cases, the spacing plates will be used between the ends of horizontally instead of vertically adjoining blocks.

My invention may be carried out in ways diilerent froin'thoseshown without-departing from the inventive idea; the drawings a will therefore be understood as being intended for illustrative purposes only and not in a limiting sense. Accordingly,- I reserve the right to carry my invention into practice-in all those ways and manners which may enter, 7 fairly, into the scope of the appended claims. a A I claim 1. A tunnel or conduitlining comprising a plurality of alined r'ngs separatedby grouting interstices, each ring being composed of a plurality of segmental blocks and corrugated plates interposed between the ends of vad oining blocks in the same'ring, determining a proper spacing therebetween and providing passages permitting the flow of grout therethrough, said plates having corrugations directed longitudinally of said lining.

2. A tunnel or conduit: lining comprising a plurality of alined rings separated by groutiiiginterstices, each ring being composed of a plurality of segmental blocks, and bearing plates interposed betweenthe ends of adjoiningblccks in the same ring, said plates being substantially parallel to the adJOining faces of said rings, and having transversal corrugations determining a proper. spacing between said blocks and providing longitudinal passages permitting the flow or" grout between-grouting interstices at opposite sides of sa d ring. I

3. A tunnel or conduit lining comprising a plurality of alined rings separated by grouting interstices, each ring being v composed of a plurality of segmental blocks, and bearing plates interposed between the ends ofa'djoining blocks in the same ring, said plates being substantially parallel to the adjoining faces of said rings; and having transversal corrugations determining a proper spacing between said blocks and providing longitudinal passages permitting the flow of grout between grouting interstices at oppo-- 4 I site sides of said ring said plates having one oftlieir ends bent to forma retaining lip adapted to engage one of the edges of the block upon which said plates are laid;

JOHN F. OROURKE. 

